Keyhole guard



' June 5, 1928. 1,672,133 I W. A. PEPPER ET AL KEY HOLE GUARD Filed Sept. 29. 1924 \AFIl'L-Lam A.Peppr Ura. M-FE ET ji n g M M r V J w Patented June 1928. l

; UNITED STATES 1,672,133 PATENT ornca.

WILLIAM A. PEPPER AND URA MAE PEPPER, 'OF TULSA, OKLAEOKA.

KEYHQLE sump.

Application filed September 29, 1924. Serial No. 740,644.

The present invention relates to locks, and more specifically to improvements in guards for theikey liole openings thereof.

The primary object of the invention being to provide a deviceof the character describedwhich is so associated with the lock asto prevent anyone from inserting a key or other instrument into the opposite key hole from which the key is inserted and forcing the key out of theflock in order to unlock the doorf from the outside.

Further objects of the nvention areto provide escutcheon plates embodying means whereby akey extending through the key hole of the plate will be held against accidental displacement or falling out due to sudden "jerks slamming of the door, said means also serving to close the key hole opening when the key is withdrawn from thelock.v a a A still further object of the invention is to provide an extremely simple and efficient key hole guard which may be readily applied to escutcheon plates as are now in coinmon use in connection with mortise locks.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, and in which drawing: V

Figure l is a fragmentary edge View of a door provided with a. mortise lockequipped with our invention and showing parts brokenaway to disclose details.

Figure 2 is a View taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a view taken on line 3-3 of v Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; and,

Figure 4; is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1. looking in the direction of the. arrows.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown but the preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. the letter A may designate a door preferably provided. with a conventional type of mortise lock B and es cutcheon plates C and C and D the improved key hole guard adapted for attachment to either or both of the escutcheon plates. The guard D includes an attaching plate E adapted to be secured to the inner face of the escutcheon late C,v a pivoted lever F,-and a spring G' or normally urging the lever F to a position for closing the key hole opening.

The lock A type, is preferably of that type wherein the bolt 5 thereof is capable of being operated from either side of the lock as by a conventional type of key 6.

. The escutcheon plates C and C which are also of well known construction, and which are provided with the usual key hole open ings Tand 7 respectively, are preferably of that type which are formed from sheet metal, and having their edges/inclined in a manner that when the plates are placed upon'a door surface, a shallow recess will exist between the inner face of the plates and the door surface.

Referring'to the attaching plate E, the

which may be of the mortise same may be formed of sheet metal and have v rightangular extending flanges 8 provided' at the longitudinal edges thereof and a rightangular extending flange'9 provided at its lower marginal edge for acting as spacing flanges for the plate when secured to the inner face of the escutcheon plate as by rivets or the like 10. A relatively short flange 11 is also provided at the upper edge of the plate and acts as a stop for the lever Fwhen the lever swings to a position for closing the key hole opening in the escutcheon plate. The lower corners of the attaching plate E may be cut away as at 12 for permitting passage of the usual fastening elements employed for attaching the escutcheon plates to the door surface.

The lever F which may be formed from sheet metal, and which is pivotally mounted at its lower end between the escutcheon plate C and attaching plate E as by a bolt or rivet 13, has a recess 14 provided in one. of its longitudinal edges at a point adjacent the upper end thereof for gripping the shank of the key 6 and preventing its being readily turned by a wire or other instrument inserted from the opposite side of the door from which the key has been inserted.

An arcuate slot 15 is provided in the escutcheon plate at a point intermediate the key hole opening 7 and pivot bolt 13, and through which a screw 16 extending through the lever F may pass for receiving an operating knob 17 for swinging the lever F out of engagement with the key 6 when desiring ing l8 is provided in the attaching plate E for permitting of the screw 16 being turned into the operating knob 17 when assembling the device.

The spring G- for normally urging the lever F into operative position for gripping the key 6 or closing the key hole opening 7,' consists of a substantially U-shaped wire spring member having one of its ends secured tothe attaching plate E and its opposite end secured to the lever F. This spring is disposed between the attaching plate E and lever F, and lies in a similar plane therewith for the purpose of providing a substantially flat-structure capable of being disposed in the narrow space formed between the inner face of the escutcheon plate and the si'irface to which it is attached. I

As is clearly shown by dot and dashlines in Figure 2, when thekey 6 is removed from thelockfthe lever F will be swung over by the spring Gr until it strikes the stop 11, and in which position the keyhole opening will be fully closed. The dot and dash line showing of the lever in Figure 4 shows the position to which the lever maybe swung free ofthe key hole opening for permitting of the ready placing or removal of the key with respect to the lock.

It will be apparent upon the foregoing description that a novel and eflicient guard for key holes has been provided which is simple and yet eflicient in operation, and guards which may be readily applied to the cess at the inner side of the plate, "a guard for the key hole opening comprising an attau-hing plate rigidly mounted in the lower end of said recess and having spacer flanges :tormed along its bottom and side edges and a stop flange formed at its top edge, a flat elongated lever pivotally mounted 'at v its lower end between the lower end of the attaching plate and the escutcheon plate and having its upper free end movable across the key hole opening, an operating knob carried by the lever at a point intermediate the ends thereof and extending thru theface plate of the escutcheon plate for manually swinging the lever in one direction away from the key hole opening and a spring connected between the lever and the attaching plate for normally urging the lever in an opposite direction into engagement with said stop for closing the key hole opening.

WILLIAM A. PEPPER. URA MAE PEPPER. 

